Incumbents dominate ballots

Newcomers file in Rock Falls, Sterling

Voters in the Sterling-Rock Falls area can expect to see many of the same names on the ballot for local school boards.

Candidates had until 5 p.m. Wednesday to file election papers.

The candidates for school board are as follows:

Rock Falls Elementary School District

Four seats are open. Current board president John Booker, as well as incumbents Shelley Chappell and Troy Ebenezer, are seeking re-election, Superintendent Dan Arickx said.

Newcomer Karla Burnett, a high school life skills teacher at the Whiteside Area Career Center, is seeking a spot on the board, Arickx said.

Larry Bell, who has served on the board for 8 years, is not seeking re-election; his children no longer attend the district, and the family is moving out of the district, Arickx said.

Rock Falls High School

Four seats are open. Incumbents John Howard and Howard Janssen are seeking re-election, said Toni Cain, secretary to the superintendent.

Newcomer Stephen Mulvaney is seeking a spot on the board, Cain said. No further information, including a phone number, could be obtained.

Incumbents Tim Nehrkorn, who has served on the board for 3 years, and Harold Wagner, who has served on the board for 22 years, did not file paperwork to seek re-election, Cain said.

Sterling Public Schools

Four seats are open, two that represent Sterling Township and two that represent other parts of the district. Current board president Jim Brotheridge, as well as incumbents Mark Geil and Terry Maguire are seeking re-election, said Jill Froeter, secretary to the superintendent.

Newcomer Pamela Clodfelter is seeking a spot on the board, Froeter said. Clodfelter is the agriculture literacy coordinator for Whiteside County and the former dean of student services at Sauk Valley Community College. She also has a daughter, who is a sophomore at Sterling High School, and a son, who is a seventh-grader at Challand Middle School.

Newcomer Cuauhtemoc Reyes also is seeking a seat on the board, Froeter said. He also goes by “Temoc,” she added. No further information, including a phone number, could be obtained.

Jim McPherson, who was appointed to the board in 2007, did not file paperwork to seek re-election, Froeter said.

Nelson and East Coloma school districts

The number of open seats in the Nelson and East Coloma school districts varies.

Residents of both districts in April will vote whether to merge the two schools. If they approve the consolidation, candidates who seek seats on the seven-member, at-large board of the consolidated district will take office. If they deny the consolidation, candidates who seek seats on their respective district boards will take office.

In Nelson, one seat on the three-member board is open, Superintendent Gregory Lutyens said. Incumbent David DeVries Jr. is seeking re-election.

A message left for East Coloma bookkeeper Barb Harrington was not returned Wednesday. The East Coloma district is responsible for not only its board candidates, but those for the consolidated board, too.